Wives of soldiers who refused orders in Iraq speak out

Daily News Roundup ^ | 10/21/04

[pabianice]

Patricia McCook and Jackie Butler have accepted a mission created when their husbands refused a fuel convoy order in Iraq last week. “He can’t speak because he has to live that life in the military right now,” Patricia McCook said of her husband. “I’m his voice on the outside, and there is nothing the military can do about it.”

“It’s our job now,” Jackie Butler said. “It’s our duty.”

Their husbands — Sgts. Larry McCook and Michael Butler, both of Jackson — and 16 other members of the Rock Hill, S.C.-based 343rd Army Reserve Quartermaster Company refused an order to deliver fuel citing “deadlined” vehicles that were not armored, poor leadership and contaminated fuel, their relatives said.

Brought together by their husbands’ decision, the women have become soldiers on the homefront. They’ve been bombarded with interview requests from news agencies around the world since the story of the platoon’s refusal of orders first appeared in The Clarion-Ledger.

They want the world to know their husbands would not have refused an order unless it was a “suicide mission,” they said.

Ask Jackie Butler and Patricia McCook about what kind of strain the past week has brought them. They’ll pause — look at one another and communicate without saying a word. Then Butler speaks.

“Look at these bags,” Butler said, removing her glasses and pointing to the circles beneath her eyes. “I just accumulated them this week. It has been a nightmare.”

Stress has come with the realization their husbands are caught in two battles in Iraq.

The women expected their husbands to face the threat of attacks from Iraqi insurgents when the Army reservists were deployed in February. But they never imagined a scenario that would have their own military holding their husbands under armed guard, or, according to the soldiers, sending them on missions with ill-equipped vehicles.

“He’s fighting a double battle,” Butler said of her husband. “That’s what hurts the most.”

The Army has denied the soldiers were ever held under armed guard.

Five members of the Army Reserve platoon were reassigned to different units, including Butler, 44, and McCook, 41, as the military investigates the refusal and the safety of the soldiers’ equipment.

The military has conceded the vehicles were not equipped with armor, something officials say is being addressed.

Patricia McCook had never met Jackie Butler before Saturday. In an interview with The Clarion-Ledger on Tuesday, the two women said they have forged a bond by swapping stories about their husbands, offering words of encouragement and a shoulder to lean on.

“Jackie is the only person in my world right now who knows exactly what I am going through,” Patricia McCook said.

“I’m sick-feeling, constantly,” Jackie Butler said. “Twenty-four hours (a day).” Sgt. McCook has been in the Army Reserves “off and on” for about 10 years, his wife said. Sgt. Butler is a 24-year reservist. Both men knew the severity of refusing orders and were not afraid to travel down dangerous routes, their wives said.

Outside of having a crew from The New York Times follow Jackie Butler to church or Patricia McCook talking with a reporter from NBC’s Dateline while taking her children to the dentist, the women are trying to carry on routinely with their lives.

“I didn’t think it would make the national news,” Patricia McCook said. “I knew it was going to be in The Clarion-Ledger because we went to you first. I sure didn’t think it was going to take on a life of its own like it has.”

The women said they think the upcoming presidential election may have played a role in why the national media took to the story.

Relatives of troops, even the troops themselves, have every right to speak their minds, said Lt. Col. Steven Boylan, director of the Combined Press Information Center in Iraq.

“But from what we are hearing in the media, there has been a lot of speculation and people speaking factually when they don’t know the facts,” Boylan said.

Patricia McCook and Jackie Butler said their husbands are fearful of speaking with reporters while the investigation is ongoing because their phone calls or e-mails might be monitored.

“I know how the military can cover things up,” said Patricia McCook, a former Army reservist. “They are trying to say our husbands and the others were never arrested or detained. That’s a lie. But this is something we are not going to let them sweep under the rug.”

Patricia McCook said she has received just one “hateful” phone call from a person in Texas who wished ill luck for her husband. Jackie Butler has received no flack, she said. People they see in Jackson, mostly strangers, offer them support, they said.

Both women had a talk with their children and stepchildren about why reporters keep calling their home and why their fathers are on television. The McCooks have two children, 16 and 14. Jackie Butler is a stepmother to two children, ages 14 and 10.

“I just told them to be careful of what they say around people,” Patricia McCook said. “I have to do that, too. But my husband and Jackie’s husband had the guts to stand up and do what they felt was right. We have to have the guts to stand up and tell the world that how they are being treated is wrong.”

[chukcha]

The last thing this country needs is an army with attitude.

[Jerry_M]

Cry me a river!

"Sarge, I am not going to get out of this landing craft on Omaha Beach, it is a suicide mission."

"Lieutenant, you have to be kidding, we have to hold Bastogne without proper cold weather clothing? I ain't going."

"Why should I fly support for those B-17s when "Jim Crow" tries to keep me down. Let someone else do it."

"Get someone else to drive 20 hours a day on this "Red Ball Express", it is just too dangerous."

"You mean we have to fly over Belin? That flak will cut us to pieces. It is just too dangerous. I won't fly."

[conservativewasp]

I heard something on the way in today about their commander being reassigned, lack of leadership, lack of discipline. She wasn't up to the job. They should all go break rocks for a few years.

[MizSterious]

These troops had been in contact with Hackworth, who as we know is no friend of the President or the war in Iraq. Some of these problems might have existed, but from here, it looks like they waited until "the right moment" to make their move. This was designed to undercut the war, and the President. In another article I read earlier this morning, it was mentioned that many troops feel sympathy for these troops. That's not a good sign, at least not for military discipline.

[MizSterious]

Bullseye! If those attitudes had prevailed in WWII, we'd be speaking either Japanese or German today.

[television is just wrong]

These women have brought shame to themselves and their country.

[Truth Table]

Their careers ended because they disobeyed a lawful order. Nobody else will have to put up with them.

[Just mythoughts]

“I didn’t think it would make the national news,” Patricia McCook said. “I knew it was going to be in The Clarion-Ledger because we went to you first. I sure didn’t think it was going to take on a life of its own like it has.”


Right.... navigating some of our interstates could be called a suicide mission. The mere fact that they got immediate messages from their hubbies gives credence that the hubbies were not under armed guard...

[river rat]

Has anyone thought that perhaps the entire "event" was staged as a Demorat political "headline maker"?

Someone needs to inform these ladies, that "mommies and wives" are NOT in the chain of command...
These ladies would better served their family members if they would STFU..

Semper Fi

[Noachian]

Would you want one of these guys in your unit?

No, I would not. How could I trust my back to one of these guys?

The next commander will have to tread lighly around these husbands and that's not a way to run a unit.

I agree, and it would be best for the military if these "soldiers" were discharged as soon as possible. The media has already positioned these guys as the poor, hapless, recruits, and the military as the big, bad, wolf.

[TigersEye]

They want the world to know their husbands would not have refused an order unless it was a “suicide mission,” they said.

Since when do soldiers get to decide which missions are safe enough to accept? The group who accomplished this mission without incident proves it wasn't a "suicide mission" which is a nonsense phrase in the context of war.

“I didn’t think it would make the national news,” Patricia McCook said. “I knew it was going to be in The Clarion-Ledger because we went to you first. I sure didn’t think it was going to take on a life of its own like it has.”

There is nothing more divisive to military discipline than a refusal to obey an order. When more than one individual does it in concert with each other it can be devastating to morale and contagious. Mutiny is the word that's usually applied to it. It threatens the integrity of the entire military force structure.

“I know how the military can cover things up,” said Patricia McCook, a former Army reservist. “They are trying to say our husbands and the others were never arrested or detained. That’s a lie. But this is something we are not going to let them sweep under the rug.”

The only denial cited in this article is a denial that they are being held under armed guard not that they haven't been arrested or detained. Why they wouldn't be arrested, detained and held under armed guard is beyond me.

[mimmson]

So THIS, is how you fight a "more sensitive war". Amazing...

[Truth Table]

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What do they think the military is? A grade school?

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You'd be amazed. Read this:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1247406/posts?q=1&&page=1

[wtc911]

vavavah wrote: G'won aks us....we be wanten the benifits...but fight? Maybe my ole Lady at home can swade the press we be in the right?

Help me out on this....do folks around you think this is clever or funny?

[kcvl]

One of the soldiers being investigated, Patricia McCook said she is considering contacting an attorney, and has sought help from her local congressman, Representative Bennie Thompson of Mississippi. Thompson, a Democrat, said today that he will seek a congressional investigation into the matter.

[Cicero]

No question that the media will use this if they can. In fact I'm surprised they haven't made more of it than they have.

I too will reserve judgment. However, I still suspect that the problem originated in an incompetent officer. It's one thing to risk your life if every step is taken to minimize the danger, and it's another to risk it because your commander is stupid. I suspect the second.

Refusing to obey a direct order is still not an option. But in the fog of war there have always been exceptional situations where the men had to get rid of an incompetent officer, one way or another.

Pure speculation. But I wouldn't rush to judgment on these sergeants or their wives. Yes, the wives will be used by the media if possible. But you can't blame them for sticking up for their husbands, especially if their husbands were right. A smart officer listens to experienced noncoms. He still is responsible for making decisions, but if he's smart he'll listen.

[linn37]

I vote for neither.

[Squantos]

There ya go......... five reassigned, disperse the trouble makers. Hopefully two of these transfered or worse is the NCOIC and Company level commander that let this come to such. A clique of such potential dissention among the ranks had to be apparent to all but a blind First Shirt in that unit.

Leadership allowed this to snowball in 120 degree heat.....doom on em !

The lifer who "refused" knows damn good and well there are avenues addressing his concerns and those of his troops other than what he did . And from appearences encouraged or just let his troops to do it the wrong way.

Bad day all the way around for all concerned. Propaganda fodder for the enemies both foreign and domestic. Damn !

[atomicpossum]

I think we need to face the likely issue that this is one problem that can arise by depending so heavily on a reserve force.

No slight intended on the many people who have been called up and are serving well, but it stands to reason that at least some percentage of the people in the reserves have done so with the belief that they would likely not be called up and could get on about their daily lives. Not every soldier is gung ho, some are less dedicated to the ideals of this country than they are to the promise of a steady job and money for college. Now this segment of reservists find themselves back as full time soldiers half a world away when they would just prefer to be back at home mowing the lawn, watching football and playing with their kids, and they feel resentful that they've been called back to full duty. The lack of discipline and motivation among this segment of the reserve units is probably doing much of the damage to the image of the US Armed Forces that we have seen in Iraq.

We need to increase the size of our standing army. I've recently read that there is just little will in Washington toward the expenditures neccessary to do this, both for pay, and for training, and for the incentives neccessary to grow our all-volunteer force (NO DRAFT). With what America is facing in the coming years, I think it has to be done.

[wtc911]

linn37 wrote: I vote for neither.

_________________________________________

As, I hope, would most of us.